


Familiar

by meils121



Category: Leverage
Genre: Familiars, Magic, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:47:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26055178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meils121/pseuds/meils121
Summary: Parker’s familiar is - perhaps predictably - a cat.She’s a black cat with a few tufts of dark grey fur here and there.  The cat’s name is Frida and she stalks around with the air of someone who should not be messed with.  Which, to be fair, she definitely shouldn’t be.
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Comments: 5
Kudos: 81
Collections: The Leverage Exchange Master Collection





	Familiar

**Author's Note:**

  * For [the_original_n_chan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_original_n_chan/gifts).



Parker’s familiar is - perhaps predictably - a cat. 

She’s a black cat with a few tufts of dark grey fur here and there. The cat’s name is Frida and she stalks around with the air of someone who should not be messed with. Which, to be fair, she definitely shouldn’t be. Frida takes forever to warm up to people and hisses on a not-so-infrequent basis. She has a remarkable knack for curling up on top of Hardison’s keyboard whenever he leaves the room to get a snack, and she’s quite happy to stalk across the kitchen counter and make herself at home in any pan Eliot might leave out in preparation for cooking.

Parker and Frida can often be found curled up together, Parker softly planning heists and talking about past jobs as Frida allows herself to be pet. Sometimes, Parker will stop and ask Frida for an opinion on getting past a particularly complex laser grid or into a supposedly impenetrable vault. Frida’s still a cat, for all she’s Parker’s familiar, and even though it shouldn’t be possible for Parker to understand what Frida is saying, no one argues with Parker when she says something was Frida’s idea. That’s just - how it is. 

Frida is an odd familiar in that she doesn’t seem to feel the need to be by Parker’s side at all times. She is perfectly happy to lounge at home while Parker is out on a job. Other nights, even when all three of them are home, Frida is nowhere to be found. She’ll resurface after a day or so, trailing after Eliot until he grumbles about her being spoiled (none of them point out that he’s the one spoiling her) and gives her a dish of cream. 

No one quite knows what to say when they first meet Hardison’s familiar. Nog is a prickly little guy - literally as well as figuratively. The whole hedgehog-as-a-familiar is certainly unusual, but it doesn’t take long to see that Nog and Hardison are a perfect match. They stay up to the same early hours of the morning, Nog running around the room and making himself cozy in a pile of blankets and Hardison yelling at whatever orc video game he’s playing now. 

Nog is a particular little fellow. He likes to eat apples and honeydew melon but turns up his nose at cantaloupe. He’s stubborn for a creature that can be picked up and moved, although Eliot learned the hard way not to do exactly that because - as it turns out - hedgehogs bite. Or, at least, Nog bites, and that’s enough for Eliot to keep an eye on him. They’ve mostly made peace, thanks in large part to bribes of Nog’s favorite fruits and a medley of mealworms and crickets (again, Parker and Hardison say nothing about Eliot spoiling the familiar). 

Nog likes to sleep in sweatshirt pockets and run full speed around the living room and float in the bathtub. He follows Frida around with amazing determination, only stimied when she finally grows bored of being stalked and leaps onto the top of the couch. 

Hardison may not talk to Nog the way Parker talks - and listens - to Frida, but he certainly never goes far without the little guy. Nog can be found pretty much anywhere Hardison is. He’s possessive of his human, after all, in a way that is normally only found in the larger familiars. 

And if Hardison buys Nog his only little mini Star Trek themed pillow to lounge on while they play video games - well, it’s only to be expected.

Ilmi is an arctic fox. She’s fluffy and graceful and leaves fur everywhere. She’s a constant shadow at Eliot’s side, quietly protective and always ready to strike down a foe. Her eyes are sharp and fierce and she moves with the air of a predator. 

Ilmi was the first of all of them - humans and familiars alike - to accept that they are all a team, all a family. Long before Eliot was willing to admit it, Ilmi took on the responsibility of watching over them all. These people and animals are her family, after all, and she takes that just as seriously as Eliot. When a bad guy gets too close to Hardison, she’s stalking forward and growling before he even registers the threat. When Parker gets overwhelmed by it all, Ilmi is there with a gentle nudge, taking up the watch so Parker and Frida can curl up and block out the world.

For Eliot, though, she’s even more. Hardison thinks - privately, because he’s not quite sure how you go about saying a thought like this - that Eliot might not be here if not for the steady comfort Ilmi offers. On the days when nightmares wake him up, Ilmi is the first to get there, crawling on top of Eliot and grounding him in the present. She stays strong so he doesn’t have to, lets Eliot grieve the life he was never allowed to live and reminds him of how beautiful his life is anyways. 

Eliot spoils Ilmi, of course he does. She gets raw meat that costs a fortune (only the best for her) and sleeps on the foot of their bed despite some grumbling from Hardison - who, to be fair, is the only one tall enough for that to really be a problem. 

Ilmi and Frida strike up a friendship quickly. Hardison likes to say that if they were humans, that would be the sort of partnership they’d have to look out for. Eliot thinks it’s a dangerous pairing as is. Nog takes a while to trust that the large fox isn’t a threat. Now, though, he likes taking naps curled up in her tail and even shares his fruit with her. It’s a strange mix, the three familiars, but perhaps no more strange - and no less perfect - than Eliot, Parker, and Hardison are together.


End file.
